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DS has always been a easy-going kid. He listens pretty well and is usually pretty good. Here lately though he has been very whiny and clingy. And he has started talking back. If I tell him to do something he has started saying "I don't have to" or "You're not my boss".

At the beginning of the week his younger brother starting getting sick with an ear infection and woke up in the middle of the night. DS1 woke up about an hour after that. I thought he had a bad dream or maybe he was getting sick too. I had him checked out when I took DS2 to the Dr and there was nothing wrong with him. Well now he has woke up crying every single night this week between 1 and 4. Sometimes he will say he is thirsty and other times he just wants me in there. I will rub his back for a minute and then he says he has to pee. So I take him to the bathroom and then I rub his back for a little more and tell him goodnight and walk out of the room. Sometimes he will cry for me to come back.

I have to get up for work at 6 am every morning and I can't keep doing this! I am exhausted! We have been having a little trouble at bedtime too lately. He has a routine. His daddy will get his pj's on and sit in there with him while I get DS2 to sleep (I just sing him a song and lay him in his crib and he's good to go) and then I will read with DS1 and sing a couple of songs. His daddy then leaves and we sing one more song and say our prayers while I rub his back. Then we do hugs and say goodnight. That's usually when I leave the room, but here lately he will try to keep me in his room. He will want the light left on or he will want another song. I try to be firm with him and when I leave he always ends up crying. I used to come back in there and he would end up crying again. But I have found if I just let him cry it out the first time then he is asleep within 10-15 min.

I don't know why he has changed all of a sudden. It's not his brother waking him up. DS2 pretty much only woke up in the middle of the night the first 2 nights and DS1 didn't wake up til an hour or so later. I don't know what to do with him. He is drving me crazy!

Thanks for your Reply!

4 Replies |Watch This Discussion | Report This| Share this:Waking up in the middle of the night...DS has always been a easy-going kid. He listens pretty well and is usually pretty good. Here lately though he has been very whiny and clingy. And he has started talking back. If I tell him to do something he has started saying "I don't have to" or "You're not my boss".

At the beginning of the week his younger brother starting getting sick with an ear infection and woke up in the middle of the night. DS1 woke up about an hour after that. I thought he had a bad dream or maybe he was getting sick too. I had him checked out when I took DS2 to the Dr and there was nothing wrong with him. Well now he has woke up crying every single night this week between 1 and 4. Sometimes he will say he is thirsty and other times he just wants me in there. I will rub his back for a minute and then he says he has to pee. So I take him to the bathroom and then I rub his back for a little more and tell him goodnight and walk out of the room. Sometimes he will cry for me to come back.

I have to get up for work at 6 am every morning and I can't keep doing this! I am exhausted! We have been having a little trouble at bedtime too lately. He has a routine. His daddy will get his pj's on and sit in there with him while I get DS2 to sleep (I just sing him a song and lay him in his crib and he's good to go) and then I will read with DS1 and sing a couple of songs. His daddy then leaves and we sing one more song and say our prayers while I rub his back. Then we do hugs and say goodnight. That's usually when I leave the room, but here lately he will try to keep me in his room. He will want the light left on or he will want another song. I try to be firm with him and when I leave he always ends up crying. I used to come back in there and he would end up crying again. But I have found if I just let him cry it out the first time then he is asleep within 10-15 min.

I don't know why he has changed all of a sudden. It's not his brother waking him up. DS2 pretty much only woke up in the middle of the night the first 2 nights and DS1 didn't wake up til an hour or so later. I don't know what to do with him. He is drving me crazy!

I highly recommend the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Weissbluth. It has lots of info and ideas to try for toddlers going through stages like this.

My DD goes through phases like this. We try to give her lots of attention during the day and then be very firm at bedtime about not delaying leaving the room. If you give an inch, they'll take a mile. One more song turns into 5 and pretty soon, a bad habit has formed. We warn her that after we sing 2 songs and give a hug and a kiss, we are leaving the room and that we will not sing any more or give any more hugs and kisses because we've found that if we give in once, she throws a big fit whenever we tell her no more.

As for the middle of the night waking, DD does that when she's overtired sometimes. She'll wake up crying and I always go in and rub her back for a minute but try not to talk to her at all or it seems to wake her up even more and then she has a harder time falling asleep.

My DD goes through phases like this. We try to give her lots of attention during the day and then be very firm at bedtime about not delaying leaving the room. If you give an inch, they'll take a mile. One more song turns into 5 and pretty soon, a bad habit has formed. We warn her that after we sing 2 songs and give a hug and a kiss, we are leaving the room and that we will not sing any more or give any more hugs and kisses because we've found that if we give in once, she throws a big fit whenever we tell her no more.

As for the middle of the night waking, DD does that when she's overtired sometimes. She'll wake up crying and I always go in and rub her back for a minute but try not to talk to her at all or it seems to wake her up even more and then she has a harder time falling asleep.

My DS gets into these routines usually once every few months. I've talked to my pedi about it in the past and he said he probably wakes up between sleep cycles and has trouble falling back asleep.

For a while, I would go in and rub his back...this always caused the pattern to continue. My pedi said I need to stop going in there (tough when he's crying for you). Instead, I call to him and say 'you need to go to sleep buddy' and after a few minutes, he's usually out. And after two or three nights of this, we get back into the regular routine with no interrupted sleep.

Good luck. I kow it's hard when you're not getting enough sleep!

Thanks for your Reply!

Report This| Share this:Waking up in the middle of the night...My DS gets into these routines usually once every few months. I've talked to my pedi about it in the past and he said he probably wakes up between sleep cycles and has trouble falling back asleep.

For a while, I would go in and rub his back...this always caused the pattern to continue. My pedi said I need to stop going in there (tough when he's crying for you). Instead, I call to him and say 'you need to go to sleep buddy' and after a few minutes, he's usually out. And after two or three nights of this, we get back into the regular routine with no interrupted sleep.

I don't know what it was, but I haven't had anymore issues out of him since Thursday night. I try to be very firm with him at bedtime and make sure to keep our routine the same. Lately when he yells for me as I am leaving the room I just close the door and pretend I didn't hear him. Sometimes he will cry for a few minutes, but it has been working.

Thanks for your Reply!

Report This| Share this:Waking up in the middle of the night...I don't know what it was, but I haven't had anymore issues out of him since Thursday night. I try to be very firm with him at bedtime and make sure to keep our routine the same. Lately when he yells for me as I am leaving the room I just close the door and pretend I didn't hear him. Sometimes he will cry for a few minutes, but it has been working.

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